270 INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD. 



figure. They now hide in a crack or crevice, and 

 change to pupae (c) inside the hairy skin. In a short 

 time they again change to the beetle state, the beetles 

 emerging throughout the fall, winter, and spring. 

 There is probably, in ordinary cases, but one genera- 

 tion a year, at least in the Northern States. 



Remedies. — In Europe this insect does very little 

 damage, because rugs are used instead of carpets. 

 Rugs are taken and shaken so often that the insects 

 have no opportunity to multiply. The use of rugs 

 should therefore be encouraged in regions where the 

 insect is troublesome. 



Perhaps the most practical way of really destroy- 

 ing these insects in carpets without taking them up, 

 is to lay two or three thicknesses of wet cloths on 

 the carpet, and iron with hot flat irons. Steam will 

 thus be generated, which will permeate the carpet 

 and kill the insects. The pests may readily be 

 killed in furniture or garments by the use of benzine 

 or gasoline, applied as a spray by some sort of atom- 

 izer, always remembering that these substances must not 

 come in contact with fire in any shape. "At house- 

 cleaning time," says Dr. Riley, " as many of the 

 rooms should be bared at once as possible, and the 

 housekeeper should go carefully over the rooms, re- 

 moving all dust, and with a hand atomizer charged 

 with benzine should puff the liquid into all the floor 

 cracks, and under the base-boards until every crevice 

 has been reached. The carpets themselves, after 

 thorough beating, should be slightly sprayed with 



